Desert Archaic

The Caballo Mountains to the south
of Truth or Consequences display a
truly astounding cross section of
earth’s time; rock layers begin in
the Precambrian and continue
through to the present. Geological
time travel: dinosaurs and coral
reefs, fern forests and redwood
trees, mammoth hunters and atomic
bomb builders. It’s really no
wonder that time does not exist in
this town – we are but momentary
guests in this desert oasis.
Experimenters in living: trailers and
gardens. Craft essential. Fermentation
and broken homes walking again.
Expressions of radical identity,
intentional or not. Randomness.
The inkling we too should live the
path of endless migration like the
Sandhill Cranes. Beer, finally! Floater
houses. Hotel beds and daydreams
of refurbished adobe. Eclipses and
the rainbow season. (Oh! the
rainbow season). Mad Max motor
bikes with chopper handle bars and
chainsaw motors. Algorithms and
targeted digital advertising. Lamp-
making, now there is an idea: Fiat
Lux! Friendships and tribulations

yield stronger bonds and family:
river float, potluck, hot springs,
bbq and booze (perfect summer
day). The blinding white light of 116
degrees Fahrenheit: June & July.
Rattlesnakes and mosquitoes.
Oryx, elk, mountain lion, deer,
turkeys, mountain goats, coyotes
and javelinas. Tarantulas. Scrawls
on a rock and spray paint on a wall:
lore and myth making. Blossoming
community, ethos, identity. New
voices echoing up and down the Rio
Grande rift; mountains rise, valleys
sink. We articulate stories and birth
future artifacts with our bare hands.
No longer murdering mammoths
with Clovis points but still in awe of
nature. We etch our story upon this
intergalactic oasis; time traveling
the eons among fossils vibrating
ever so slightly in dance as they
know our gaze is upon the piercing
crystalline stars visible here in still
primal deserted darkness. We are
temporarily tethered nomads
enshrining mythologies upon the
grand arc of time and place which is
this bend in the river, conveniently
heated by sleepy super volcanoes.